Napoleon Kaufman is building up Bishop O’Dowd football program
Former NFL running back and current Raiders team chaplain Napoleon Kaufman has O’Dowd’s football team playing at a level not seen since its peak years under Paul Perenon, when the Dragons won three North Coast Section titles (1997, ’98 and 2004) and went 209-75-2 record from 1985 through 2010.
O’Dowd (9-1) enters Saturday’s NCS Division 3 home playoff opener against Terra Linda-San Rafael (5-5) as the No. 2 seed and ranked eighth by The Chronicle, its highest ranking in more than a decade.
Kaufman replacedanother former NFL player, Hardy Nickerson, who replaced Perenon in 2010.
O’Dowd also features 5-10, 180-pound Austin Jones, one of the top sophomore running backs in the state (1,181 yards and 21 touchdowns).
Considered one of the greatest prep running backs in state history, Kaufman — a 100- and 200-meter state sprint champion who rushed for 5,151 yards and 86 TDs at Lompoc High (Santa Barbara County) — views the position, and Jones, with a hard-to-please eye.
Other Dragons drawing Division I attention include free safety Jevon Holland (6-2, 180), cornerback-receiver Je’quari Godfrey (6-2, 180), defensive back Trevor King (5-11, 180), linebacker Nathan Shepherd (6-2, 225), defensive end Jordan Jackson (6-3, 230) and tight end Cooper Hagmaier (6-5, 215).
Holland is a junior, and King is the younger brother of Washington cornerback Kevin King, projected by draftutopia.com as the No. 5 pick overall in next spring’s NFL draft.